Donald Trump credited with bringing North Korea and South Korea together for talks

SOUTH Korea says Donald Trump may be the reason talks have resumed with North Korea as the White House reiterates his pledge to get involved.

Staff writers, AP

News Corp Australia NetworkJanuary 11, 20187:24am

President Donald Trump diplomacy appears to be working. Picture: APSource:AP

DONALD Trump has been credited for the return of North Korea and South Korea to the negotiating table for the first time in two years, but that historic move has come with a dire warning for the US from Kim Jong-un.

CNN reports that South Korean president Moon Jae-in has said the Trump administration could deserve credit for the resumption of dialogue between the North and the South at the truce village of Panmunjom yesterday.

Moon said the resumption of talks with the rogue state “could be the effect of the sanctions and the pressure led by the US.”

Donald Trump’s tough approach to North Korea could be working. Picture: APSource:AP

However according to the network, the talks ended with an ominous warning from Kim Jong-un’s representatives, who said at the conclusion of the diplomatic chat that the North’s nuclear weapons are aimed directly at the US and not South Korea, Russia or China.

South Korea’s president also said he is open to meeting with North Korean leader Kim if certain conditions are met, as he vowed to push for more talks with the North to resolve the nuclear standoff.

President Moon spoke of a potential summit a day after the two Koreas held their first high-level meeting in about two years and agreed to co-operate in next month’s Winter Olympics in South Korea.

“I keep myself open to any meeting including the summit (with North Korea) if it’s helpful for an improvement of South-North relations or a settlement of the North Korean nuclear issue,” Moon said.

“But to have the summit, some conditions must be established. I think a certain level of success must be guaranteed.”

South Korean President Moon Jae-in will press for further talks with the North. Picture: APSource:AP

Moon described the North’s Olympic participation as “very desirable,” saying he will push for more talks and co-operation with the North.

The White House said Mr Trump is open to talks between the US and North Korea, while remaining determined to apply “maximum pressure” over Pyongyang’s nuclear program.

During a phone call with his South Korean counterpart Moon, Mr Trump expressed his openness to holding talks with Pyongyang “at the appropriate time, under the right circumstances.”

“The two leaders underscored the importance of continuing the maximum pressure campaign against North Korea,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders added in a statement that confirmed a South Korea account of the phone call.

Tuesday’s accord was reached after Kim Jong-un made an abrupt push for improved ties with South Korea following a year of escalating tensions with the outside world over his expanding nuclear and missile programs.

Critics say Kim may be trying to divide Seoul and Washington in a bid to weaken international pressure and sanctions on the North.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert welcomed the inter-Korean meeting which she said was “aimed at ensuring a safe, secure and successful” Olympics.

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The U.S. said it was consulting with South Korean officials to ensure that North Korea’s participation in the Games does not violate U.N. sanctions.

North Korea’s participation in the Winter Olympics won’t affect U.S. participation in the Games, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, adding that the decision presents North Korea with an opportunity to see the value of ending its isolation from the rest of the world.

In his New Year’s Day address, Kim said he was willing to send a delegation to the Pyeongchang Games. Moon welcomed Kim’s outreach and proposed the talks at Panmunjom, a proposal North Korea quickly accepted.

South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon (l) shakes hands with the head of the North Korean delegation Ri Son Gwon after their meeting at Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone. Picture: APSource:AP

KOREA’S FAILURE TO FOLLOW THROUGH

Chief North Korean delegate Ri Son Gwon read what he called a joint statement after Tuesday’s talks, under which the two Koreas agreed to “actively co-operate” in the Olympics to “enhance the prestige of the Korean people.”

He said the two countries will hold follow-up working-level talks on their Olympic co-operation.

North Korea is not a winter sports power, and two of its figure skaters, Ryom Tae OK and Kim Ju Sik, earlier became the only North Korean athletes to qualify before the North missed a confirmation deadline.

The International Olympic Committee said Monday it has “kept the door open” for North Korea to take part.

Kim Jong-un’s missiles are aimed at the US. Picture: APSource:AP

North Korea also agreed to restore a military hotline communication channel with South Korea, according to chief South Korean delegate Cho Myoung-gyon.

The restoration of the hotline was the second such move in a week. All major inter-Korean communication channels had been shut down over the North’s nuclear program in recent years.

But North Korea reopened one channel last week as signs emerged of improving ties.

Cho said South Korea also called for talks at an early date to discuss denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula to promote peace. He said the two Koreas would continue high-level talks but didn’t give a date for the next meeting.

The countries have a long history of failing to follow through with rapprochement accords.

In 2015, negotiators met for nearly 40 hours before announcing a deal to pull back from a military standoff caused by landmine blasts that maimed two South Korean soldiers. But animosities flared again several months later after the North’s fourth nuclear test.

Last year, North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test and three tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles.